[1] He volunteered for the United States Army in 1942, during World War II and was sworn in on his twenty-first birthday.

[1] Saffels commanded the 1373rd Signal Company in the European Theater of Operations and achieved the rank of major by the time of his discharge in 1946.

He received a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Washburn University School of Law in 1949.

[1] In 1967, Docking appointed Dale to the Kansas Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities in the state.

[1][2] With the support of United States Senators Bob Dole and Nancy Kassebaum, Saffels was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on September 28, 1979, to the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, to a new seat created by 92 Stat.